Teixeira, as you know, suffered a torn tendon sheath while preparing to play in the World Baseball Classic last spring. It did not respond well to treatment and he ended up having surgery over the summer. He now thinks he can be playing in spring training games by March.

Sadly, Teixiera’s timetables have not lived up to expectations, so the Yankees would do well not to count on him as their everyday first baseman.

Strange, his career rather parallels (in some respects) Junior Griffey’s. Griffey was a big bopper until he went to Cincinnati. Had one good year (40 homers) then right downhill. And it was right after he was voted on the all time all star team.

friscoal - Nov 26, 2013 at 10:45 AM

Swinging ‘full speed’ really means that we’ll once again be treated to groundballs into the teeth of the “Shift” resulting in single outs or double plays depending on the situation. Tex doesn’t realize that he’s being given the opportunity to hit over .400. He needs to learn to take what the defense gives him. His comeback; “They brought me here for RBI’s and home runs. They pay me for RBI’s and home runs.” Which is all hogwash. They pay him to help the team win and not to be a Prima Donna.

Tex has had a very low BABIP in recent years. Failing to adjust to an obvious, predictable shift plays a role. Low BABIP isn’t just a product of bad luck. It’s also due to weak and misdirected contact. He should develop an up the middle / opposite field approach. 19 games against Joe Maddon should be incentive enough.

He tried changing his approach to more of an “all fields” variety” early on in 2012. The results were basically the same, but with less power. Perhaps it was just his usual early-season struggles playing out with the new approach, or perhaps he was unable to deploy a new approach. At the very least he should be practicing a butcher-boy slap to 3B so it is an available tool in those instances where a single is as good as a HR (down by 2 in the 9th etc)